By the end of the 1950’s it was clear that the market wanted something bigger and faster out of Piper, and Piper wanted something that could compete in passenger and baggage space as well as performance, even though the Apache had gained a fifth seat in 1955. Thus was born the Aztec, with six-cylinder, 250-horsepower Lycoming O-540 engines replacing the Apache's four-jug, 160-hp O-320 mills (early models had 150-hp engines), and a stabilator, borrowed from the Comanche, in place of the Apache's horizontal stabilizer and elevator. Otherwise, the airframe changed little and therefore shared the same model designation — PA-23 — but now with a -250 extension.

The C model, which came along in 1964 and would be produced in the greatest numbers, added fiberglass landing gear doors and borrowed the Twin Comanche's streamlined "Tiger Shark" engine nacelles. Fuel injection and dual alternators came standard on the C